Postage stamp - Pakistan
Allama Iqbal Centenary 1977.
The foundation of Pakistan following Iqbal's vision was an early beginning to a resurgance of Islam follwoing a century of Western domination.
One of the great poets of the 20th century. Lines from one of his most famous poems Tarani-I-Hind:
"Better than the entire world, is our Hindustan;
we are its nightingales of mirth, and it is our garden abode
Though in foreign lands we may reside, with our homeland our hearts abide,
Regard us also to be there, where exist our hearts
That mountain most high, neighbor to the skies;
it is our sentinel; it is our protector
In the lap of whose, play thousands of rivers;
gardens they sustain; the envy-of-the-heavens of ours
O waters of the Ganga mighty, do you recall the day
when on your banks, did land the caravan of ours
Religion does not teach us to harbour grudges between us
Indians we all are; India, our motherland"
Astronaut Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian in space, spoke the first line to describe how India looked from space when asked by Indira Gandhi.
He is also regarded by Pakistan as its national poet. To be received by the two countries in the same way is really something. I guess a great poet is a great poet no matter what.
Postage stamp - Pakistan
Allama Iqbal Centenary 1977.
The foundation of Pakistan following Iqbal's vision was an early beginning to a resurgance of Islam follwoing a century of Western domination.
One of the great poets of the 20th century. Lines from one of his most famous poems Tarani-I-Hind:
"Better than the entire world, is our Hindustan;
we are its nightingales of mirth, and it is our garden abode
Though in foreign lands we may reside, with our homeland our hearts abide,
Regard us also to be there, where exist our hearts
That mountain most high, neighbor to the skies;
it is our sentinel; it is our protector
In the lap of whose, play thousands of rivers;
gardens they sustain; the envy-of-the-heavens of ours
O waters of the Ganga mighty, do you recall the day
when on your banks, did land the caravan of ours
Religion does not teach us to harbour grudges between us
Indians we all are; India, our motherland"
Astronaut Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian in space, spoke the first line to describe how India looked from space when asked by Indira Gandhi.
He is also regarded by Pakistan as its national poet. To be received by the two countries in the same way is really something. I guess a great poet is a great poet no matter what.